Name of Monument:

Koza Han

Location:

Bursa, Turkey

Date of Monument:

Hegira 25 Dhu’l-Qa‘da 896 / AD 29 September 1491

Architect(s) / master-builder(s):

Abdülali, son of Pulad Shah.

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Patron(s):

Sultan Bayezid II (AH 886–917 / AD 1481–1512).

Description:

Koza Han, koza meaning literally 'silk cocoon', was founded by Sultan Bayezid II as a waqf (or pious foundation) to fund his imaret in Istanbul. The han (inn) consists of a courtyard measuring approximately 45.90 m x 37.50 m with two stories of rooms around its perimeter as well as a single-storey stable adjoining the eastern side. On the outer walls, single rows of ashlar alternate with double rows of brick. Below the double row of dog-tooth ornament, a band of brickwork in a double-chain pattern winds round the four walls of the building. The windows of the rooms on the lower level are slits (embrasures), while those on the upper floor are rectangular.
The portal in the middle of the north wall and the rooms flanking it project outward from the wall. The portal iwan has panelled square vaults and is two-stories high. The rooms to either side are also two-stories high open onto the iwan through an arch on the lower level.
In the centre of the courtyard is an octagonal kiosk-masjid supported on eight stone pillars connected to each other by arches. Beneath the mosque is an octagonal fountain with an additional pillar in its centre. The masjid is accessed by a marble stairway and is covered with a dome.
There are 50 ground-floor rooms in the han. Those at the corners have panelled square vaults, while the others have barrel vaults oriented perpendicular to the courtyard. There are porticoes in front of the rooms and on the four sides of the courtyard. The porticoes, carried on square pillars, are covered with barrel vaults arranged parallel to the courtyard. One of the rooms on the east side of the han has been converted into the stable entrance. On the second floor, there are 54 rooms including the rooms on either side of the portal. The rooms flanking the portal and those in the corners are covered with square vaults while all the rest are covered with barrel-vaults. There is a fireplace in each room. The portico on the upper storey is covered by a series of domes supported on square pillars. Made of wood until recently, the portico was rebuilt in its current form by the 'Bursa Monument Lovers' Association'.
The stable does not have a regular plan. In general it consists of two series of aisles arranged as a 'U' on three sides of the courtyard. The aisles are covered with barrel-vaults.
In addition to the brickwork double-chain motif running around the outer walls of the han there is also decoration on the portal façade. A moulding in the form of a spiral begins about 100 cm from the floor of the portal and winds around the main niche and façade. In the spandrels of the arches are geometric designs with five-pointed stars and various interlacing motifs made up of turquoise tiles set into grooves carved in the ashlar. In addition, a large chain motif, made of mouldings of baked clay, winds round three sides of the portal wall.
The han is still used today as a market.

The caravanserais built at a distance of a day's journey in the Anatolian Seljuq period were superseded by the hans (inns) built in the cities in the Ottoman period. These hans were sometimes named after the marchandise traded in them, such as Copper Han, Iron Han, Rice Han and Silk Han. Koza means silk cocoon and this han served the silk cocoon trade, and still serves as a market.

How Monument was dated:

Koza Han has no foundation inscription but according to information in the Bursa legal registers Sultan Bayezid II ordered Abdülali, son of Pulad Shah, to build it in Rabi' al-Akhir 895 / February–March 1490, and it was opened with a ceremony on 25 Dhu'l-Qa'da 896 / 29 September 1491.

Selected bibliography:

Baykal, K., Koza Hanı ve Mescidi [Koza Han and its Masjid], Bursa, 1950.
Baykal, K., Bursa ve Anıtları [Bursa and its Monuments], 2nd edition, Levent, 1982.
Demiralp, Y., Erken Osmanlı Sanatı, Beyliklerin Mirası [Early Ottoman Art: The Legacy of the Emirates], Madrid, 1999, pp.108–11.
Gabriel, A., Une Capitale Turque, Brousse, Bursa, Paris, 1958.
Yüksel, İ. A., Osmanlı Mimârîsinde II. Bâyezid-Yavuz Selim Devri [The Reigns of Bayezid II–Yavuz Selim in Ottoman Architecture (886–926/1481–1520)], Istanbul, 1983.

Citation of this web page:

Yekta Demiralp "Koza Han" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;tr;Mon01;15;en

Prepared by: Yekta DemiralpYekta Demiralp

Yekta Demiralp is an assistant professor in the Department of Archaeology and History of Art, Faculty of Letters, Ege University, Izmir. He was born in Soğucak, Balıkesir, Turkey in 1959. He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Linguistics, History and Geography, Department of Art History in 1980. He worked as a teacher of history of art and then joined the Department of Archaeology and History of Art, Ege University, as an expert. He became a research assistant in the same department in 1988 and an assistant professor in 1997. He participates in Beçin excavations and has published on the history of Turkish architecture and art.
Translation by: Barry WoodBarry Wood

Barry Wood is Curator (Islamic Gallery Project) in the Asian Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He studied history of art at Johns Hopkins University and history of Islamic art and architecture at Harvard University, from where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2002. He has taught at Harvard, Eastern Mediterranean University, the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He has also worked at the Harvard University Art Museums and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. He has published on topics ranging from Persian manuscripts to the history of exhibitions., İnci Türkoğluİnci Türkoğlu

İnci Türkoğlu has been working as a tourist guide and freelance consultant in tourism and publishing since 1993. She was born in Alaşehir, Turkey, in 1967. She graduated from the English Department of Bornova Anatolian High School in 1985 and lived in the USA for a year as an exchange student. She graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering of the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, and the professional tourist guide courses of the Ministry of Tourism in 1991. She worked as an engineer for a while. She graduated from the Department of Art History, Faculty of Letters, Ege University, Izmir, in 1997 with an undergraduate thesis entitled “Byzantine House Architecture in Western Anatolia”. She completed her Master's at the Byzantine Art branch of the same department in 2001 with a thesis entitled “Synagogue Architecture in Turkey from Antiquity to the Present”. She has published on art history and tourism.
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: TR 24